Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard poses with a Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid car provided to him as an official pace car to use ahead of May's Indianapolis 500 race.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard's job has one really cool perk. He gets a "festival car" for his use during April and May each year in the lead-up to the Indianapolis 500 race.

Usually that means a speedster of a car, a Chevy Corvette or Camaro.

This year, Chevrolet and race officials had other plans.

On Wednesday, as the 33 members of the 500 Festival's Board of Directors picked up their official cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - special Camaro Hot Wheels Edition convertibles - Ballard was handed the keys to a Chevrolet Volt.

The move was a nod to the mayor's recent executive order for the city to replace its entire fleet mostly with hybrid-electric vehicles by 2025. The four-door Volt has a hybrid engine with a plug-in recharger.

Granted, Ballard rarely drives himself around. His driver mostly will be at the wheel when he takes the Volt out for 500 promotions or just to tool around town.

But so far, he's a fan. On Wednesday night, he said he plugged it into an outlet in his garage.

"It's really a nice car, a sweet car," Ballard told us. "I really prefer it," and plugging it in for a recharge "took three seconds. That's what I keep trying to tell people (about hybrids). It's very easy stuff."

Clarity, Pence-style

Let's be clear about one thing: Gov. Mike Pence likes to be clear.

He says it all the time.

In a news conference that lasted about 50 minutes on Thursday, Pence said "Let me be clear" or "Let me make it very clear" at least nine times.

Talking about legislation that would require armed personnel in schools, Pence said: "Let me say, I have a strong bias for local control and I think decisions that are nearest and dearest to our hearts ought to be made by parents and local school officials. I believe that's so in this case. But that being said, let me be clear. I believe that the presence of school resource officers who are properly trained and armed on school premises today contributes to the safety of our kids in schools around Indiana."

But should they be required?

He talked for several minutes and never said "yes" or "no."

Asked if he supported the requirement for an armed school employee, Pence said: "Let me say, this is an issue that we've been spending a considerable amount of time on" since the Newtown, Conn., shootings, that left 20 first-graders and six others dead.

"Let me be clear, and I'm talking as much as a dad as I am a governor, we have no higher priority in this office than public safety, and there's no higher priority in public safety than protecting our kids," Pence said.

But should armed personnel be required?

"Let me just say, I am open to proposals that would provide resources and proper training" to let every school have an armed officer.

Getting more direct

Pence spent most of his Thursday news conference addressing the Senate version of the budget, but he also gave reporters a chance to gauge his views on other issues.

Among them:

? Legislation that the Indianapolis mayor's office and others say could negate human rights ordinances which bar discrimination, including by sexual orientation:

"Let me just say that we have been given assurances that at the time that legislation reaches our desk that in separate legislation the initial intent of that bill will be clarified," Pence said. "We'll evaluate whether or not to sign that legislation against the totality of actions that are taken."

? Abortion legislation: Pence was asked if he was disappointed Indiana didn't go as far as North Dakota in blocking abortions after six weeks. Legislation here would require a clinic that prescribes an abortion-inducing drug to meet the same building requirements as for surgery, including wider hallways, sterilization equipment and a recovery room.

"I'm pro-life and I believe in the sanctity of life. But I also believe the state of Indiana has an interest in seeing to the proper administration of health care to women in this state," Pence said, arguing that the bill "advances proper medical care for women."

? Hunting preserves which let people shoot confined animals: Pence said he is open to legislation to allow existing high-fenced hunting lots to continue in business.

"I also think that it's important that we make it clear what the standards of those facilities are" including dimensions and animal health, he said.

? Legislation making it a crime to take unauthorized videos on farms and industries: Pence fielded this issue after telling reporters: "Anything else? I'm in a chatty mood."

So what about that so-called "ag-gag" bill?

"Well, that's what I get for saying I was in a chatty mood," Pence said before saying the legislation has to balance respect for private property rights with the public's right to know of any abuse or wrongdoing.

No 'date night' for competing council members

An effort to shift more power to the Indianapolis mayor is moving full-steam ahead in the General Assembly, and that's heightened tensions between Democrats and Republicans in the City-County Council. Senate Bill 621 would remove some council oversight and would grant the mayor more budget power.

GOP Minority Leader Michael McQuillen, who supports some parts the bill, says he was trying to breed more collegiality when he suggested a "Supper Summit." Modeled on President Barack Obama's recent dinners with small groups of congressional Republicans, McQuillen envisioned some council members from both sides of the aisle gathering for a casual dinner.

No thanks, Democrats said.

"It is very unfortunate in my opinion that the Democrat caucus is opposed to holding friendly conversation outside of the Council process," McQuillen wrote in an email to other Republican members last week.

Council President Maggie Lewis told us that Democrats weren't opposed to the idea, but were reacting to the timing.

"Once again, it's really hard to come together in the spirit of cooperation when we know that there's an agenda being moved forward on their behalf" at the Statehouse, Lewis said. "Nobody's being honest and frank with us regarding SB 621.

"Until that happens, to say we're going to sit down and break bread at this time, it's challenging to do that."

Still in last place

When former Gov. Mitch Daniels first campaigned for his office in 2004, he said he would put more emphasis on winning federal grants, including health care grants.

"We are the last state in America in grants from the federal government in the area of health," Daniels said during a campaign debate. "We are leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table in this critical area of health care simply because other states have mobilized to seek those funds, and no one was minding the store."

Indiana ranked last in competitive grants and formula funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2004 at $9.61 per person.

So where did Indiana rank in 2012, Daniels' final year in office? Also last.

Indiana got $13.72 per person compared with the $19.54 national average, according to a report released Thursday by Trust for America's Health, a Washington-based nonprofit.

Some CDC funds are distributed to states based on formulas that take into account such factors as population and disease rates. Others funds are distributed through competitive grants.

The Trust for America's Health argues that the CDC has been underfunded so many state grants get "approved but unfunded."

Indiana also ranks below average when it comes to spending its own funds for public health. The $17.43 per capita that Indiana spent ranked 36th among states.

The report said that state spending varies dramatically mostly because some have decentralized public health departments where more of the responsibilities fall on local departments. In addition, states and local governments place different priorities on public health programs.

Easing the pain

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, was MIA in the Statehouse last week and again this week. A knee replacement he'd had done last summer had become infected, forcing him to undergo new surgery and to take time away from the legislature.

Bosma, though, has been keeping in touch with legislative leaders via the phone - and with the rest of the world via Twitter.

On Wednesday, Bosma tweeted out that he was resting between physical therapy sessions and noted that the governor, Democrats and others had all sent him flowers.

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce had sent a tribute too: A fruit basket.